Prosperity has never been
so close within reach . . .

Survival as a poor, rural farmer is brutal: an endless march. But the path out of generational poverty is like climbing a mountain that crumbles beneath your feet.

Thanks to you, families like Wihgri's, the 8-year-old in the photo above from Luz, have made remarkable progress in our communities - but the ground can still give way under a bad harvest or medical emergency. Our families need your support to make their final push.

This spring we asked you to invest in
a final push to launch 4
hardworking families toward
Prosperity.

You did it. Thanks to you ...

German & Ester in Piedra de Horeb
Alonso's family in Bella Vista
Justo & Alicia in Luz del Mañana
and Petronilo & Franseca in San José

... will grow their farms and strengthen their communities, taking another step closer over the next year to closing the door on poverty ...

FOREVER.

What does Prosperity look like?

A prosperous family is economically sustainable and independent. They're permanently out of poverty. At this point, a family is healthy, secure, and generates enough income to provide for their children, grow their businesses, and pay off their land loans with a surplus for emergencies.

Prosperity is a leap further than the relative security of having a home and enough to eat - and that's why it's a long journey to get there. Prosperous families are truly resilient: they're no longer in danger of falling back into poverty if hardship strikes.

After surveying families early in 2016, we've determined that the majority of families in our active communities are between the Asset Building and Asset Growth stages on the "Path to Prosperity." This map or "theory of change" tracks families' socioeconomic progress over time toward a holistic set of outcomes in areas like food security, health, crop diversity, and gender equity.

We have designed personalized Village Plans to help move every family toward sustainable Prosperity within the next 2 years, but we need your support to help families achieve their goals.

It costs an average of $6,000 to fully
support one family for a year.

What will the Path to Prosperity campaign provide for families?

300 families living in 5 active villages in Nicaragua and Honduras (Tierra Nueva, Luz del Mañana, San José, Bella Vista and Piedra de Horeb) are nearing their transition to self-governance. We've developed thorough, personalized Village Plans for each community designed to:

Build on families' progress by strengthening farmers' capacities & connections to private produce markets, so their families never fall back into poverty again.

What are the outcomes for a family?

Your investment today, guided by our Path to Prosperity framework and detailed survey results, will increase the sustainability and profitability of a family's farming business.

Families will complete this year with more productive assets on their farms, like new tilapia ponds or access to better equipment, 90+ hours of technical assistance to learn and practice advanced farming techniques with our expert agronomists, lasting connections to markets that pay fair prices for their produce, income from crop sales in their pockets, and a strong payment toward their land loans.

More Answers

How do you know what families need and how long to support them?

Based on the results of our early 2016 socioeconomic & demographic survey, we mapped each family's current status on our Path to Prosperity framework. The Path to Prosperity framework tracks family progress toward sustainably overcoming poverty.

The majority of families today in five of our active villages - Tierra Nueva, Luz del Mañana, San José, Bella Vista and Piedra de Horeb - fall between the Asset Building and Asset Growth stages. They have made extensive gains in food security, health and well-being, and established fledging farming businesses with high-value crops. Alongside targeted investments, the survey identified that families' main area of need is strengthening the sustainability and profitability of their farming businesses.

We have determined that over two years, with your help, we can make the necessary investments in each family's agricultural skills and business acumen to establish strong farms with in-demand, high-value, high-quality crop cultivation. We've also established contracts with major private sector agricultural buyers for each crop we are investing in with families. Over two years, families can develop a track record of success with these private sector partners, taking ownership over these crucial relationships that will sustain their farms' profitability into the future.

Why is the administrative cost so high?

Our model provides a holistic array of resources, skills development, positive behavioral training, and the establishment of connections with private and public institutions. Unlike most international development operations, who offer a single investment in family well-being, we attack the complex determinants of poverty. This shifts, over an 8+ year partnership with families in a newly-formed community, from building secure homes and accessing clean water, to the development of profitable, family-owned farming businesses, and the establishment of strong, functioning governance committees and lasting connections with government service providers and private agricultural markets.

Our work with families is both resource-intensive, especially during early infrastructure-building stages, and staff-intensive. The transformational change we create with families is only possible through close, trusting relationships between families and local staff who spend the majority of their hours alongside families.

Why is the agricultural investment so high right now?

Our holistic work with families shifts over time, as they build their village from bare earth into a thriving community. For the first several years with families, our investments are primarily in village infrastructure, including homes, clean water systems, sewage and waste disposal. Initial investments to connect families with rural healthcare outreach systems and provide training on hygiene also taper off as health improves and sustainable systems are established.

On the other hand, our investments in market-led agriculture will steadily increase. Our longterm goal is to leave families with sustainable and profitable farming businesses, providing high-value crops to major private market partners. But we cannot focus on this crucial area of our work with families until they are living in secure homes, with access to clean water, enough food and their children in school. Happily, thanks to your investment, the majority of our active communities have progressed substantially beyond basic security. Today, agricultural investment is the area where we can make the greatest impact on families' longterm well-being.

"They made me work a lot as a child."

Meet Ester and German's family

"They made me work a lot as a child," remembers German. From infancy he accompanied his family to shepherd their animals. Real work started at age 8.

Today - thanks to you - German and his wife Ester are building a different future for their children. Living in Piedra de Horeb, Honduras, German has learned to successfully grow plantains, chilis, and an unusual crop: fish.

"I knew how to work, but without technique," says German. "That is one of the reasons my experience with Agros has been so beautiful. Because the engineers: they teach you."

Ester has also soaked up trainings offered by Agros: how to start a small cooperative cereal business and save the money she earns. Plus, she adds, "what my husband learns, I learn."